a blog of questions, comments and quotes...inspired by this challenge: You see things; and you say, 'Why?'
But I dream things that never were; and I say, "Why not?" -George Bernard Shaw

Monday, April 09, 2007

It Was Good For Me To Be Afflicted

Teth

Ninth letter of the Hebrew Alephbeth.

Good is the main word of this acrostic song, in Hebrew the word "good" begins with the letter teth...the word is "tov".

The poem begins with a plea: Do good to your servant...; it continues: Teach me knowledge and good judgment. He reminds himself: You are good, and what you do is good; It was good for me to be afflicted, so that I might learn your decrees.

What is the definition of good?

Good is personal: it is God.Good is objective: it is commands, decrees, prcepts, law, word.Good is existential: it is what God does.Good is...good: I delight in your law.

We live in a messed up world. There are things I have messed up. I share a last name with those who have messed up. I pastor messed up people. I carry wounds because of others who are mess-ups. But for all the ways that our world is messed up, there is a way that is good...there is a good judgment to be found, a good God to be reconciled with, a good deed to be done. As hard as it may be to know and do what is good, like the psalmist we go to God often and intensely: Do Good To Your Servant.

My mess ups may mess me up for awhile, but I - like many of my friends who have messed up...we will someday say (hopefully sooner than later) It was good for me to be afflicted...so that I would learn from my mess ups and learn your good decrees/commands/judgments/law/word.

Ironically, my mess ups are my means of attaining what is good...if I take what God gives...in his timing, from his people that he sends to me.

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About Me

I married Tara in 1995 - a wonderful wife; we have four fun children. I lived in Ontario, Canada for over a decade as a kid, graduated from Huntington College (where I met my wife), and I hope to travel to every continent on earth with my wife and kids. I lead and teach at Anchor Community Church, a great group of people who work to make the neighborhood a better place to live.

theological worldview

You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.